'Hurting American businesses': Trump’s 'tariff agenda' could cause 'painful rupture' among Republicans

13 September 2024

During their highly contentious presidential debate at Philadelphia's National Constitution Center on Tuesday night, September 10, Democrat Kamala Harris hammered Republican Donald Trump relentlessly on everything from foreign policy to immigration to Obamacare. Harris also attacked Trump on the economy, arguing that his tariff proposals, if enacted, would cost U.S. consumers a fortune.

Trump has proposed a 60 percent tariff on imports from Mainland China and a 10 percent tariff on imports from other countries.

But Harris isn't the only one who is troubled by Trump's tariff proposals. According to Semafor's Burgess Everett, many GOP lawmakers are worried as well.

"The former president's campaign-trail talk of a sweeping tariff on global imports is rattling Republicans in Congress," Everett explains, "but the GOP is not exactly vowing to vanquish a proposal that most economists warn would carry serious risks for U.S. consumers. Not to mention that Trump may just go around Congress and unilaterally enact a version of his tariff agenda."

The "protectionist escalation" Trump is pushing would, according to Everett, "splinter Republicans, reopening a painful rupture between old school free-traders and Trump-aligned populists."

"Few elected Republicans are praising Trump's vision of using tariffs to bolster the U.S. dollar and finance his policy plans," Everett reports. "That's because many agree with economists that blunt-force tariffs amount to a tax on consumers and businesses. Trump's tariff ideas could also take the sting out of their attacks on Vice President Kamala Harris for the Biden Administration's record on inflation. But congressional Republicans aren't vowing to block him, partly because of the high threshold to do so and partly out of disinterest in infighting ahead of the election."

Everett adds, "If Trump wins, they're signaling a post-election lobbying effort to narrow his proposals to exempt allies, keep prices low and avoid hurting American businesses."

According to Everett, GOP lawmakers have been expressing "mild" objections to Trump's tariff proposals — although "GOP resistance to his plans would almost certainly mount if he wins."

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) told Semafor, "People are panicked about what they're paying for everyday stuff. If it's the Alaska consumer, I don't know how I can legitimately ask them to pay more."

Read the full Semafor article at this link.

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